"In contrast to rigidity, tension is not good or bad. It has to be present at the right time and in the right amount. There is nothing in the world where yogis say there should be no tension at all. The right amount will keep all of your energy in your body. Too much tension is aggression. Injuries come by aggression... aggressive movements... too little tension is weakness." BKS Iyengar
I like this quote by Iyengar because it is balanced.
I find that we sometimes misunderstand balance when it comes to the principle of yin and yang... whether in movement or in our own personality and lives. Working at balance and harmony is a true journey in itself!
We often take philosophical gems or personal/spiritual teachings and quotes and warp or distort them unknowingly. Today, I want to stress the importance of reflection on ideas and concepts and working to really get a feel for when we do warp or distort. This, of course, is hard to see at times due to our own internal buffers to seeing things as they really are. Having said that, it is up to us to discover where or when we may be distorting something... I will use the example of yin and yang as one idea we tend to misunderstand. Perhaps, as an exercise, you can reflect on other ways we distort, misinterpret, take out of context and misapply certain teachings.
While we are working to reduce the excess amount of tension in our bodies, minds and emotions ... we would not be well advised to release any and ALL tension, when that is not really the point. Similar to body tension, in the way the above quote mentions, I have also found that there are often various misunderstandings about how the energies of yin or yang manifest and play out in our lives ... feminine or masculine tendencies ... excess or deficiency of these energies... and our ability to learn how to effectively work with these.
People in certain circles tend to promote certain energies ... one over the other. Some tend to veer towards the yang side... others to the yin. We, as individuals, have a tendency towards one side more than the other as well. When we reflect on ourselves, we can initially find this in differences between the two sides of our bodies... but this can show up in a variety of ways... including in our personality tendencies, thoughts/emotions, food choices and internal meridian system.
When there is an imbalance with too much of a yin tendency, we might experience things like apathy, depression and/or internal weaknesses of various sorts which can also show up in various behaviours. Aggression can show up here, but it would be more subtle ... passive-aggressive and manipulative for example... our energy can be too open and we leak it out everywhere. We may find it more challenging to have healthy boundaries placed up or we allow in so much of what is around us in fear of judging or labelling that we can absorb energies which can be detrimental to our well-being over time. This, of course, can be quite unconscious.
On the other hand, if we are imbalanced with too much yang, we hold ourselves from opening where it may be beneficial to doing so and it may appear as various forms of outward aggression or an overly-external or forceful focus. This can show up in posture, tone and other outward behaviours. People find it easier to see and label a more yang form of aggression as compared to the yin form which expresses aggression in other ways. A person who hits a wall or expresses/swears loudly (more yang) is just as aggressive as someone who is subtly passive-aggressive, negative and manipulative or quietly discounting (more yin). The point here, is that like the above quote on tension, where people tend to misunderstand 'tension' ... and can either experience too much or too little, we also do the same with the terms 'yin' and 'yang'.
Some practitioners of various movement Arts believe that things like squats, jogging (if you do jog, please do so on sand or in the woods ... concrete is known to be too hard on our joints over time), push ups, martial arts (punches, kicking and fast movement) etc. involve or promote too much tension (or that they are excessively yang) and that Arts such as 'marital arts' of various sorts are aggressive. Well... they can be... and many are ... but they are not all always taught that way... it depends on the school and then on the individual and how they apply the teachings.
In the style of Kung fu and Chi Kung I learned, balance and harmony and working with yin and yang was always taught as one the keys as well. Moving fast or moderate or slow... punches...kicks and forms performed at various speeds need the proper balance of tension and relaxation... and all at the right time! Life is like this too... we don't always experience the same energies; life is fluid, shifting and changing like the wind and other forces in nature/universe and within ourselves. This is inner work ... and no matter what Art you do, it takes time to understand and then learn how to apply these things in the 'dojo' and then in life itself wherever we are.
Like the above quote on tension, Yin and Yang are truly deeper teachings with multi-layers of application to life and are often misunderstood. Sometimes, due to the fact that so much in our world has tended toward the more Yang side, we overthink it and move to extremes in Yin (we even do this with foods... eating too much yin food can create an excessive yin condition). This will not assist us in balance. Yin or Yang are not good or bad in themselves... like tension is not good or bad... it depends on what we mean when we are talking about it.
We even do this with the two hemispheres of our brain (left and right). Due to the heavy focus on the rational and thinking processes, some circles put down the rational and thinking 'mind' in favour of the intuitive, creative and spontaneous 'aspect of our mind'. This leads to various imbalances too! We have both sides and there are benefits to developing both...working towards this balance is directly related to how we work to balance yin and yang and the two sides of our body in movement arts as well. They are related! When we are skewed towards one side more than the other, it is up to us to seek out ways to develop the other aspect of ourselves; and yes, this is possible. We can develop more skills this way and have at our disposal more ways of responding to ourselves, those close to us and the world around us. In balance and harmony, we use the appropriate energies at the appropriate times ... as well as combinations of the two when required.
Mastery is being able to work well with balance and harmony (which is always shifting and moving like the symbol up above... it is not a destination where things will become perfect or static... so we are in training to learn how to master the ability to flow with shifts and changes while maintaining the highest integrity of balance and harmony we can... don't label it - just keep working with it). It's more about developing the ability to work well with these energies ... one...or the other... as needed. It is not about one rigid method/mode of being ... as the above quote suggests... rigidity and tension are two different things.
Kung fu, in the style and teaching I learned, was taught as a balanced Art. As well as being a Spiritual Path, if that is what one is desiring to pursue, it contains both soft and hard style of training... it is both internal and external. It teaches how we can, with proper application and dedication over time, balance our polarities... our bodies ... our internal organs and various systems. It contains healing tools, breath work, fitness, cardiovascular training, strength training, flexibility and moves the body in all aspects. It is not completely linear or imbalanced in its focus.
Aggression is not meant to be a part of these teachings; however, various individuals can take a teaching of this sort and bring their own aggressiveness or imbalance(s) into it. I wrote a blog some time ago on anger which has a good story about a snake in it. We sometimes imagine that anger itself is 'bad'...anger is an energy... it is neither good or bad...it is what we do with the energy that counts. "Using your big voice', as I am known to say, can be the thing to do ... depending on the situation.
Kung fu, Chi Kung and Yoga ... taught in 'traditional' ways were always about balance of our lives reflected in our energies ... balance of our two aspects... two sides... yin and yang again. There are also various phases of our lives where we may find ourselves spending more time in one aspect or another. We may also find various imbalances come up when we swing too far into one way or another. Sometimes we experience more of one energy than another... eventually we (hopefully) find or discover that we have to work at balance on a new level or in a new way. It is a dance ... cool...warm...cold...hot yin...yang... seeking and playing with balance and harmony in our Personal/Spiritual Arts and within our own lives... inside and out.
In the arena of health and well-being the principles of yin and yang are used as well. Acupressure, diet via food choices ... as well as working with our internal psyche ... working with any of these things involves the same look at the balance or imbalances of these energies.
As always, seek to Know Thyself better. The next step is to work at developing areas you are weaker in... develop skills which can assist you to balance out your life in a more whole way. This can be applied in so many ways!
